Buying / Selling Blessed Sacramentals

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FickleFreckled

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This was a question that didn’t make it into Ask An Apologist; I think it’s been long enough that I can expand and post it here:

I don’t want to make anyone hyperventilate, but with the best intentions in the world, I used to “rescue” old religious items, rosaries, etc. from antique stores and flea markets. It seemed like a pretty good thing, keeping them from potential misuse, respecting , using and enjoying them. I happened to mention this to someone who told me that we’re not allowed to buy or sell blessed items. I actually did know that, years ago, but had long forgotten it. It seems to me that it’s better to purchase the item and get it out of the flea market than to leave it there to be disrespected. So, I called the diocese and was told that not only can we not buy them, we can’t give them away either.

Now that opens up a whole 'nuther can of worms. What about all the rosaries that are blessed in Rome, or at any religious site, which are expressly purchased and blessed for someone else back home? What about Mom’s old rosary given to her daughter at her wedding, or the special rosary you give to a friend? Because I’ve done a volunteer healthcare ministry, I’ve been given gobs of pre-blessed rosaries to give patients over the years.

So, 1) I’d like to know the reason behind the
prohibition; does it have to do with the
buying and selling of indulgences or is it
something else?
Code: 
  2) Is it positively true (and where does it say
      so) that blessed articles can't be given
      away?

  3) Can a blessing be removed from a sacra-
      mental by a priest?
Thanks!
 
About the giving away of blessed articles. Many groups collect old religious articles such as rosaries for the missions.
 
Claire,
Now that you mention it, that’s happened in parishes I’ve been in, too. It just doesn’t make sense; I’m hoping the person was incorrect.
 
FickleFreckled said:
This was a question that didn’t make it into Ask An Apologist; I think it’s been long enough that I can expand and post it here:

I don’t want to make anyone hyperventilate, but with the best intentions in the world, I used to “rescue” old religious items, rosaries, etc. from antique stores and flea markets. It seemed like a pretty good thing, keeping them from potential misuse, respecting , using and enjoying them. I happened to mention this to someone who told me that we’re not allowed to buy or sell blessed items. I actually did know that, years ago, but had long forgotten it. It seems to me that it’s better to purchase the item and get it out of the flea market than to leave it there to be disrespected. So, I called the diocese and was told that not only can we not buy them, we can’t give them away either.

Now that opens up a whole 'nuther can of worms. What about all the rosaries that are blessed in Rome, or at any religious site, which are expressly purchased and blessed for someone else back home? What about Mom’s old rosary given to her daughter at her wedding, or the special rosary you give to a friend? Because I’ve done a volunteer healthcare ministry, I’ve been given gobs of pre-blessed rosaries to give patients over the years.

So, 1) I’d like to know the reason behind the
prohibition; does it have to do with the
buying and selling of indulgences or is it
something else?
Code: 
  2) Is it positively true (and where does it say
      so) that blessed articles can't be given
      away?

  3) Can a blessing be removed from a sacra-
      mental by a priest?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
You can buy and sell blessed items. It is the blessings that cannot be bought or sold.
In other words if someone is selling identical Rosaries except that some of them have been blessed, the price must be the same for both the unblessed and blessed ones. The price cannot be increased because of the blessing.

Of course blessed items can be given away. Why would there be a prohibition on that?
 
Thistle, it makes no sense to me, but it came from a person in a position to have the answer at the diocesan office. I could call back, but I really don’t want to argue with him. Like I said, I do recall at some time learning that blessed items can’t be sold but that was back in the prehistoric days when we learned all kinds of interesting sins during catechesis. As far as being given away, it makes no sense. That’s why I’m hoping someone will respond to this thread who can give me chapter and verse.
 
Simony is the sin in question. As you will see fromt he Catechism (below), simony is buying or selling SPIRITUAL things. It is a serious sin.

A rosary, medal, statue, house, car, musical instrument, pet - all these are physical things.

While these physical items can be blessed, the physical thing can be bought or sold. The BLESSING is a spiritual thing, spiritual things cannot be bought or sold.

If you rescue an old rosary, have it blessed, as you did not buy the spiritual blessing, you bought physcial beads and metal or cord.

See below from the CCC:

scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2121.htm

scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2139.htm

scborromeo.org/ccc/para/2118.htm

**2121 ***Simony *is defined as the buying or selling of spiritual things. To Simon the magician, who wanted to buy the spiritual power he saw at work in the apostles, St. Peter responded: “Your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money!” Peter thus held to the words of Jesus: “You received without pay, give without pay.” It is impossible to appropriate to oneself spiritual goods and behave toward them as their owner or master, for they have their source in God. One can receive them only from him, without payment.
 
kage_ar,
Thank you for your answer. So, even though these items had probably already been blessed years ago on behalf of the original owner, there is no sin in buying them, correct?
 
(Sorry, I wasn’t done and hit the send button accidentally.)

See question above;

And it’s not forbidden to give away blessed items.

Do the items need to be re-blessed?

I know these questions are AR, and I’m not usually scupulous, but I am, after all, questioning information from a ‘reputable’ source, so anything to clarify…
 
No, there’s no sin in buying them.

My understanding of the issue is that, if you buy an item that has been blessed, the blessing is no longer effective. So buying a rosary because it has been blessed by the Pope is an exercise in futility. 😉

I would assume it is OK to give a blessed item to someone. After all, that’s how the relics in altars are acquired.

Maybe the person you spoke to at the diocese was having a bad day.

Ruthie
 
Ruthie, I could be wrong about this, but my understanding about relics is that they’ve usually been removed from a church that is being demolished or the property sold. I think the items in a church are consecrated along with the church and the consecration is sacramentally or ritually nullified when the property will no longer be used as a church. If I’m wrong about that someone will correct me, but I don’t think it’s the same thing as the blessing for a privately-owned sacramental.
 
FickleFreckled said:
kage_ar,
Thank you for your answer. So, even though these items had probably already been blessed years ago on behalf of the original owner, there is no sin in buying them, correct?
Click to expand...
Were you TRYING to buy a blessing or other spiritual gift? If not, then, there is no simony.

The sin of simony, as stated in the CCC references, is deals with buying and selling. Giving gifts is not buying or selling, so, I cannot wrap my head around how it could be considered simony.

When people tell you things are forbidden or are sin, ask them for documentation. That is the kewl thing about the Church, we can document what we teach.

Sadly, some people DO try to commit simony (just look on ebay for people selling “blessed” items :eek: ).

BTW, what you were told is a very common Catholic “urban myth”.

About having items blessed, I just ask a Priest or Deacon to bless items for me - when I see them after Mass, at a class.
 
kage_ar
I do know where and how to get things blessed, thank you. 🙂
 
Yes, I found a page a couple of weeks later - which I didn’t save, sorry - that said it’s forbidden to buy or sell blessed articles, period. What it also said is that if a blessed item is bought or sold, the blessing ceases to exist. Therefore, it seems to me that, since the item was purchased once by the antique dealer who is now selling it, it is no longer blessed and is not a problem I need to be concerned with.
I found no reference that indicated giving away a blessed article is forbidden as our diocesan office had said it was.
 
FickleFreckled said:
Yes, I found a page a couple of weeks later - which I didn’t save, sorry - that said it’s forbidden to buy or sell blessed articles, period. What it also said is that if a blessed item is bought or sold, the blessing ceases to exist. Therefore, it seems to me that, since the item was purchased once by the antique dealer who is now selling it, it is no longer blessed and is not a problem I need to be concerned with.
I found no reference that indicated giving away a blessed article is forbidden as our diocesan office had said it was.
Click to expand...
As far as I know, blessed articles may not be intentionally sold. When one buys, e.g., a rosary at a religious site (Loudres, Rome, etc) it is not considered a blessed article. But, one it has been blessed, it can be used by the bearer, or given as a gift with no problem. The bearer, though, is not at liberty to sell it.

If one comes upon e.g. a rosary at a flea market, etc., the assumption has to be that the item is not blessed. Which of course means that it can be sold again, or given to another. In either case, though, such an item reverts to its original state as being simply an item with no blessing attached. The purchaser would (if so inclined) have to have the item blessed for it bear any religious significance. In the case the purchased item was to be a gift, the donor may have the article blessed before gifting it to another, else the recipient would have to have it blessed. Same as if the purchase had been made in a shop at a religious site.
 
Well, actually, since the items at antique stores and flea markets usually came out of estates, and folks back in the 40’s & 50’s always had rosaries and statues blessed (at least in my area), the assumption has to be made that they were blessed.
Once the dealer bought them, though, the blessing ceased to exist according to the page I found, which if I remember correctly originated with the Bishops Conference. I should try to find it again and post it, but the thread had fizzled out so I didn’t bother at the time.

Both questions had been answered in the absolute negative by the diocese originally. I could understand the blessed items being prohibited from sale but a prohibition about giving away blessed articles just sounded ridiculous. So, problem solved.
 
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